Before You Were Born
by ohmyload
Summary: Lily has become pregnant and she's still at Hogwarts. Then her and James receive news that their unborn child could be a target of Voldemort's. Dumbledore creates a class for seventh years a maternal protection class. Lily and James are to take it so t
1. Chapter 1

Lily was sitting in the Headmaster's office with James. She was holding her stomach unintentionally and biting her bottom lip nervously. She felt like a child, waiting to be scolded; she was just waiting for the final outcome. She was going to be kicked out of Hogwarts. Miss Perfect Lillian Evans, who never steps out of line, who never talks back. And all these years she had tried to retain a perfect record it'll all be shattered with one moment.

"Ms. Evans," Dumbledore said pensively as he leaned forward in his chair, gazing at her through his half moon spectacles. "I have talked to the teachers and we've all agreed that your pregnancy will not stop you from graduating, as you only have two months left. But," Dumbledore said slowly as he looked at Lily who seemed immensely relieved but still apprehensive. "I have been told of a prophecy. Your son could be a threat to Voldemort." Lily and James cringed at the sound of Voldemorts name, but then, the name seemed nothing compared to the feeling they had once they'd taken in what Dumbledore had said. "Now, we all want you to be prepared, to be able to protect your son."

"And how do you propose we go about doing this, sir?" Lily asked in a rational voice.

"We are going to have a maternal protection class for the remainder of the year, and we are going to start on Monday. We must do this as soon as possible as we only have a month and a half to prepare you inside of school, and we will have limited time once you've left Hogwarts. We will not mention your current state, and this will only involve seventh year."

"Aren't people going to wonder why they're required to take a maternal protection class?" James asked, finally finding his voice.

"I was just getting to that, Mr. Potter. We are going to say that other schools have enforced this class and that the ministry has told us we need to do so as well, to ensure the safety of future children as Voldemort rises to power. Me asking you to keep this a secret from your circle of friends would be a waste, so, I ask that you be careful with whom you tell, and who you can trust. Only tell those you fully believe will never betray you. I ask that you two discuss this before you tell anyone." Dumbledore looked once more between Lily and James. "You two are dismissed," Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand. 

Lily and James stood up and thanked Dumbledore before they left his office.

"What do you think Dumbledore meant by, 'trust who you pick'? It seems as if he knows something," James said slowly as he thought it over.

"Oh don't be silly, James. I'm sure Dumbledore didn't really mean it. But I do think we should talk about who we are going to tell. And we can't do it in the middle of the corridors. Let's head to the girls dormitory-James, swipe that look off your face. It's lunchtime right now so we'll have enough time to talk it over without anyone disturbing us."

"Well, I'm sure you want to tell Sirius, Remus, and Peter," Lily said once they had reached the girls dormitory and had situated themselves comfortably on Lily's bed.

"Of course," James said. But then he noticed a look of apprehension on Lily's face. "What is it?"

"Well," Lily said slowly as she reached her hand to her stomach, thinking of the life growing inside of her. "I'm sorry, but I'm a little…nervous about telling Peter. When Dumbledore suggested that if we have any doubt, we shouldn't tell, and there's this feeling inside of me telling me to be careful. I'm sure it means nothing, but I just want to be sure."

"I'm not going to fight you on it. If it doesn't feel right, we don't have to tell him."

"Good, and I want to tell Kiera, if that's ok."

James nodded his head and a silence passed between the couple. Once they had settled on who they were going to tell, the information of their son possibly being a target of Voldemort's finally sunk in. You can't prepare yourself to hear this kind of news. Someone that has been growing for a month inside of Lily could possibly be killed. He could be killed because of a prophecy that may not be true. Lily's and James's lives had already changed because of the unexpected pregnancy, and now they had to worry about their unborn child living once he comes into the world.

"Do you remember what Dumbledore said?" Lily asked, looking up at James.

"Which part?"

Lily looked up at James lovingly, her face glowing. Despite the terrible news they had received today one happy moment blocked out the threat of Voldemort for a few moments. "The part when he said we were having a boy." 

"How is it possible that an unborn child could be a threat to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Sirius asked as he scratched his head, the pieces not coming together.

Lily shrugged. "Dumbledore was very vague when he spoke of the prophecy."

"Why aren't you telling Peter?" Kiera asked.

Lily looked at her friends hesitantly. "Well, Dumbledore said only choose to tell people you fully trust, and I felt that we shouldn't tell Peter. Please try and understand that we're just thinking of our baby." Lily said it in the most supportive way, knowing how close the Marauders were, and how they could never be separated.

"Whatever you and James want," Remus said supportively.

"So, what's this about having maternal protection? Will I be impregnated?" Sirius asked.  
When breakfast the next day had ended, everyone was standing to leave when Dumbledore stood up and spoke. "I have an announcement that only pertains to seventh years. Everyone else is excused." The other years looked confused as they slowly packed away their things hoping to stay long enough to hear what Dumbledore was going to say. They had no luck as McGonagall got up and started reprimanding the students that were purposefully taking a long time to leave.

"The ministry has informed us that with Voldemort's rise to power, we need to learn protection; mainly protection for our future children. So, with that said, the ministry has enforced a class for maternal protection. In this class you will have a baby doll that acts like a real child. It is charmed so that if you drop it, neglect it, or put it in a dangerous situation, it could be injured or die. I do not say this to scare you, but to prepare you. I'm telling you this information because you are going to be thrown into the real world within two months and the safety of Hogwarts will no longer be there for you. I don't want you to go into the world naïve and not knowing the dangers that you could face." Dumbledore looked around the Great Hall. Some of the kids looked scared, others confused, and others that seemed indifferent. "Now, I'm assuming there will be questions, and we'll take this time to answer them."

Around thirty hands went up and Dumbledore called on a girl from Ravenclaw. "Professor, are we going to be doing this alone or with a partner?" When the question left her mouth around ten hands went down.

"Very good question, Ms. Henders. You will have a partner, assigned by Professor McGonagall. And don't worry about mixing houses; you will be paired with someone from your own house. We only do this because the couple will be together more often if they share the same house. Next question. Yes, Mr. Kamps."

"Are we required to take our babies to class? Don't you find that will be distracting, especially since N.E.W.T.s are coming up?"

"No, you will not be bringing your child to class. We have made it so that when you are in class, the baby will be sleeping. They are set to wake up when it's time to eat; after that they will sleep once again. As for the N.E.W.T.s test; because caring for a baby will take up some of the time you would spend for studying, we have made it so that you have a longer time to take the test, you will now have three hours rather then the usual two. You will not have the baby during exams; you are to turn in your child, along with an essay, the Friday before exams start, giving you the weekend to study." Dumbledore looked around the Great Hall once more, noticing no hands were up. "Well, if there are no more questions, Professor McGonagall will inform you more on the class and what is expected." With a nod to McGonagall, Dumbledore left the Great Hall.

"Maternal Protection will be held Monday through Friday at six PM sharp. Classes start today and you will receive your child tonight, along with who your partner will be. As for partners, you cannot change. I will not accept bribes or threats," she said, her gaze lingering on Lucius Malfoy. "If your baby is injured, lost, or dead, you will not get the extended time for N.E.W.Ts. If you have questions later, you can ask either Professor Dumbledore or myself. I assume everyone understands the rules. You are now dismissed. You are not to skip your class, if you do so you will receive a detention."

Once McGonagall had left the Great Hall, everyone started talking. Most were complaining about having to care for a child, some were joking about it, and some didn't care. The only ones that weren't talking about it were the Marauders, Lily, and Kiera who all walked out of the Great Hall and to their class.

"This should be interesting, shouldn't it?" Peter said trying to break the silence. His effort was wasted as no one spoke and just merely shrugged. "Am I missing something?"

"No," Lily squeaked. She realized what she had done and cleared her voice. "I mean, no, of course not. It's just a lot of information to take in at once and talking won't clarify anything, it will only make it more frustrating. It's better to just wait and see what happens." Peter, being the slightly ignorant person he is, believed her excuse and didn't push it any further.

The group soon arrived at the potions room with Professor Slughorn. Once inside, they noticed immediately that their Professor did not look too pleased. "I'm just letting you know that if you're ever late for my class because of a 'baby issue', I will not be forgiving. The only reason I let you come late to this class was because Dumbledore requested it. If your baby is stuck, lost, or dead, I do not care. You will arrive at this class on time or you will automatically fail your Potions exam. This goes for all seventh years. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded before taking a seat and quietly getting out their things, trying their best to do nothing wrong so that they wouldn't trigger Slughorn's anger.

"This will be the last potion you are required to make until finals. This potion will take you two weeks, if you do it correctly. It's called Draught of the Living Dead. If you consume this potion, you will become tired, not being able to fight keeping your eyes open and you will die in your sleep. You will be doing this potion independently to better prepare yourself for the finals. The instructions are up on the board." Slughorn tapped his wand on the chalk board and words immediately showed up. "I suggest you get right to it, if you have any intention on passing this class."

There was a loud sound of chairs sliding against the cold stone floor, and the quick shuffling of feet as students tried to get their ingredients and cauldrons hurriedly. 

"What do you think of all that has happened?" Kiera asked Remus as they started their potion.

"Well, I can't imagine what Lily and James are going through," Remus said in a quiet voice so no one could overhear. "I'm not too keen on having a child, even though it is fake. I'm sort of afraid of children, to be honest."

"Afraid? All they do is drool and eat," Kiera joked.

Remus smiled and let out a low chuckle. "I just had this experience with my cousins."

"Are you going to share this experience with me?"

Remus sighed. "Well, for some reason my parents decided that they wanted to have a family party over Christmas break, last year. My family is rather large; I have ten cousins, all very young. Since I am the oldest I was assigned to keep the children amused and happy, so the adults could basically get drunk without having to worry about their kids," Remus said with a smile. "When I had the kids in a room, they all looked at me with their beady eyes. They didn't move, didn't talk, nothing. They just stood there, staring up at me expectantly." Remus silently shivered and Kiera giggled. "I didn't know what to do so I grabbed some blocks and threw them in the middle of their circle. They immediately started fighting over the blocks except this one kid. He came up to me and said that I looked like a 'mushroom headed bear.'"

Kiera did everything in her power to not burst out into laughter. Her body was shaking as she bit her bottom lip in an attempt to suppress her laughter.

"I know this may seem amusing to you but did you ever take the time to wonder if children are plotting against us? I mean, we never know exactly what they're saying; we just assume it's something cute."

"Are you honestly expecting me to believe that children are evil? And they somehow grow out of it once they grow up and figure out what the world's really like?"

"Well, not exactly in those words, but yes, around those lines."

"Remus, is it that time of the month for you?" 

Remus looked at Kiera in bewilderment and fear. How did she know? Remus didn't tell her he was a werewolf, and he was positive that James, Sirius, and Peter wouldn't tell her.

"I'm sorry Remus; I forgot men get embarrassed when girls joke about periods."

"Period? What period? Like a class period?" Remus asked in honest confusion.

Sirius leaned over smiling and whispered to Remus, "Remus, the time of the month for girls is when they eat every bit of chocolate in sight and become very moody for a day or two."

Remus thought about it and wondered if him being a werewolf was period related. He had all the symptoms (excluding being a girl); ate a lot of chocolate and got moody a few days before the full moon. Remus couldn't help but wonder; could girls be the reason as to why werewolf's exist?

Mad Eye Moody entered Dumbledore's office with a smug expression on his face. "Alastor," Dumbledore greeted warmly. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I have an item that may interest you," Moody said as he took a seat opposite of Dumbledore's.

"I assume everything went well?"

"Better than expected. We have captured four of Voldemorts followers. We currently have them under our watch, trying to get information out of them, they have yet to cave, but give it time and they will. Though they may be followers of Voldemort's their knowledge of where he is and what he's planning is limited. The only way we could get vital information would be to capture Demetry Malfoy. He's hidden his tracks well. I'm hoping that one of the Death Eaters we've captured could guide us towards Malfoy."

"Well done. Was anyone injured?"

"There were only a few minor injuries, nothing that a quick trip to St. Mungo's couldn't fix."

"Is that all you need to tell me?"

"Not quite," Moody said as he reached into his coat pocket. When he pulled his hand out, there was nothing in it. It looked like he was unfolding something, and Dumbledore was staring at him intently. "One of the Death Eaters, Warrington Goyle, had this on them." Moody then made a motion like he was wrapping something around him, and disappeared.

"An invisibility cloak?" Dumbledore asked as he leaned forward, not being able to hide the excitement in his voice.

Suddenly, Moody appeared before him once again and handed over the cloak to Dumbledore. "I thought this would be of use to you."

"Have you checked to make sure Voldemort hasn't charmed or jinxed it?"

"We've checked it and it's clear. It's just a plain ol' invisibility cloak. I believe it was Voldemort's because when we took it from Goyle, he looked scared and kept on saying that I needed to give it back, otherwise there would be terrible consequences."

"Consequences for us?"

"No, I believe he was talking about himself or Voldemort. I'll bet that Voldemort used the invisibility cloak to throw off his opponents during battles."

"This is very useful. Thank you, Alastor."

"Does this involve Potter and Evans?"

"You've received word of the prophecy?"

"Yes, I heard about it. Do you believe what they're saying?"

"It's hard to say. It may not be true, but we must take all precautions. And from what you've said, there appears to be more to this cloak. I don't mean to insult you and your credibility, but I would like to check this over once more."

"I understand, Albus, just thinking of your students, as usual." Moody stood up and shook Dumbledore's hand. "Well, that's all I have for you. If anything else happens, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Alastor." 

Dumbledore ran his hand along the smooth silk cloak, a tingling sensation entering his arm as he did so. He chuckled as he made part of his beard disappear wondering if he would look better with a shorter beard. 

"Dumbledore," McGonagall said as she burst through the door. When she saw Dumbledore's beard growing and then shrinking, she sank back embarrassed.

"Ah, Minerva, just in time; do you think I should keep my beard the way it is or go short?"

"Dumbledore," she sputtered, clearly not amused. "I just passed by Alastor. What was he doing here?"

Dumbledore set the cloak to the side. He laced his hands together and set them on his desk before clearing his throat. "They've caught four followers of Voldemort."

"Did they get any information?"

"Nothing on the whereabouts of Voldemort, but they did get this," Dumbledore said as he held up what appeared to be nothing. Then he draped it over himself and disappeared. He took it off and was amused by McGonagall's shocked expression. 

"He took this invisibility cloak from one of the Death Eaters."

"Did they check to see if it was cursed?"

"Yes, they did, and they found nothing. If you don't mind I would like you to check it one more time."

"Yes, of course," McGonagall said as Dumbledore handed her the cloak. McGonagall turned to leave but then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, are you planning on giving this to Potter?"

"Yes, that was my plan, why?"

"Albus, you know what he's like. Can you even fathom the pranks they would pull if they were invisible? I wouldn't trust him with this, Albus. It might do more damage than good."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because, it's not about him anymore, it's about his unborn child. There's nothing more powerful than the love for your child. Maybe you should take the maternal protection class, Minerva." 


	2. Baby Food

At exactly six McGonagall stood from her desk and looked at the students who were staring at her anxiously. She cleared her throat and erased the chalk board, drawing out time so she would have their full attention. Once she had finished erasing the board she clapped her hands together and smoothed out her dress.

"Well, lets just get to it." McGonagall said sharply. She waved her hand and a piece of parchment containing the partners appeared before her. She flicked her wand and a couple dozen baby bassinettes were behind her. "When I call your name you are to come up to the front of the classroom. I will then give you your child. Does everyone understand?" The students nodded their heads and McGonagall took this as a sign to continue. She started off with Ravenclaw, as she read out the names the other houses couldn't help but wonder who they were going to be paired with, everyone except for Lily and James. Once she had finished Ravenclaw she moved onto Hufflepuff. The anticipation was rising for the two houses that remained.

"Before I move onto Gryffindor I'm afraid there's been a slight change. We are forced to mix houses, Mr. Pettigrew, there wasn't an option left for you in Gryffindor so we have paired you with Bellatrix Black."

Peter looked over at Bellatrix and her face shown nothing short of pure horror. She looked around at her classmates in disbelief and seemed shocked. "Professor," Bellatrix said raising her hand. "I'm afraid this just cannot do. I can't be stuck with…him, of all people!"

"I'm afraid you do not have an option Ms. Black." McGonagall said sternly.

"Professor-" Bellatrix started. Lucius Malfoy had leaned over to whisper something in her ear. Whatever he had said made her stop complaining; she actually looked pleased and smiled at Peter.

"What was that about?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius shrugged and shook his head. Knowing Lucius he was probably planning something. Sirius tried to shake the thought out of his head and concentrated his energy on McGonagall once more; knowing that whatever the plot was it couldn't cause too much damage.

"Sirius Black and Jerica Umbers," Sirius was the first of the Marauders to receive a child. When Sirius and Jerica walked up McGonagall handed Jerica the baby. Sirius noticed how life like it looked, as it slept in the bassinette.

McGonagall continued to rattle off the names of the partners, some more pleased then others. "Lillian Evans and James Potter. Molly Prewitt and Arthur Weasley. Kiera Marshall and Remus Lupin. Lucius Malfoy and Narsisca Black." And the names continued. One after one people received their baby and sat in their chair bewildered by the life like features the baby possessed. Once the last person had received their child McGonagall continued, "first things first; you must name the baby. When you have decided on the name you hold your wand to the child's head and mutter; meopeanius. This will bring the baby to life. I'll give you twenty minutes to sort out a name, and you are able to choose the gender of the baby with the name you've given it. Once you've done so I ask that you come to me so I may watch you perform the spell." The students remained quiet in their seats, expecting more to come. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Well," James said, turning to Lily. "I'm sure you've already got around a hundred names planned out. Care to share?"

"Don't be so cheeky. But yes, I do have three names in mind."

"And they would be?"

"Fernando."

"No."

"What is wrong with that name?"

"What is he, an Italian prostitute?"

"Fine, Damien."

"No."

"How about Henry, I don't see what's wrong with that."

"I like Henry but something about it doesn't seem right. How about…Harry."

Lily thought this over and said out loud, "Harry Evans. Harry Potter, I do like the sound of it."

James smiled when Lily had said his last name too. "So it's Harry then?"

Lily looked down at her stomach and rubbed it as she smiled, "yes, Harry."

They walked up to McGonagall and she told them to perform the spell. Lily held her wand to their fake child's head and muttered, "Meopeanius, Harry."

At first nothing happened, Lily looked at James nervously, fearing she had messed it up. When she thought it hadn't worked a low cry emitted from the baby's mouth. Lily looked down at the baby and smiled. While they baby looked life-like she noticed there was no trace of emotion in the baby's eyes.

"I want a boy," Sirius argued with Jerica.

"And I want a girl." Jerica countered.

"How about this; if we make it a boy I will look after it on weekends."

Jerica thought over his proposition. "I also get to choose the name."

"Deal."

Jerica started walking towards McGonagall with the baby in her arms. "What, you're not even going to tell me the name?" Sirius whispered to her once they had reached McGonagall."

"You said it was my choice, I don't need to run it by you." She then pointed the wand at the babies head and said, "Meopeanius, Kurt."

"Do you want a say in the babies name or gender?" Kiera asked Remus.

Remus shrugged, "I don't really care to be honest. Do whatever you please." 

"Well, I've always wanted a girl. And if I ever have a girl I would want to name her Alexandra." 

"Like I said, I don't care."

"Remus, you may want to try and help me. This isn't my child, it's ours."

"It's not a child, Kiera. It's a doll!"

"Mr. Lupin, Ms. Marshall; your job is to act like a couple, not argue like one. If you continue to disrupt my class I will give both of you a detention. I hope it's ok to continue with my lesson." Remus and Kiera shrunk in their seats. "You have five more minutes left, and then I will go over daily tasks. Ms. Marshall, Mr. Lupin would you care to come to the front of the classroom and give the name of you're child?"

Remus went to pick up the baby but Kiera took it from his hands. "No, I'll do it. I'm the parent after all." Kiera walked to McGonagall with Remus following in her wake fuming. 

"I want you two to realize this is a team effort, and Mr. Lupin I would expect more from you. I do not care if you don't like children, this is a grade, and I want you to take it seriously. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes mam," Remus replied with his head down.

"Ms. Marshall, would you care to continue?"

Kiera nodded her head and took out her wand. "Meopeanius, Alexandra." With a burst of light the baby slowly came to life. Remus poked the child's cheek and the child immediately let out a low cry. "Remus," Kiera said slapping his hand away. "Don't poke the baby. Honestly, I don't know who the child is." Kiera picked up Alexandra in her arms and sat down in her seat. 

"She's was so nice, then we had children." Remus sighed.

"During meals there will be baby food served. The baby will eat approximately half a cup of mashed food per meal. Along with each meal the baby will need a bottle of milk. After each meal the babies diaper will need to be changed. You will repeat these steps three times a day until the class were you will be learning defense techniques. Let me remind you once more that the baby is like a real one, it will cry, hurt, and if you neglect it, it could die." The bell rang and the students were quickly gathering there things so they could get to dinner. "If you have any questions again, you may ask Dumbledore or me. At the end of each week I expect a twelve inch essay on what you did with the baby and it's reactions, write down if anything abnormal happens."

"She expects me to sit at the Slytherin table during each meal." Peter whined about Bellatrix as everyone made their way to the Great Hall, babies in the women's arms.

"You didn't agree, did you?" James asked.

Peter shrugged, "she said if I sat in with her during meals I wouldn't have to go to the Slytherin common rooms. I thought that it would be better to be close to you guys then completely isolated, in case she tries anything."

"Tries anything?" Sirius laughed. "What could they possibly do with you Wormtail?" Peter turned red and looked down at the ground. "Oh, I didn't mean it that way-um, so, what did you name the baby?"

"I had no say in the naming or gender process. It's a girl and she named it; Katarina."

"Well, I for one am excited about this project." Jerica said loudly as she cradled the baby in her arms. "Not too thrilled with the choice of partners," she said as she leered at Sirius.

"You'll come to love me," Sirius said as he swung an arm around her shoulder. "They all do."

Jerica shrugged off his arm and stepped away from him. "Well, believe me when I say I won't come to love you. It's a stretch to say I may come to tolerate you." Jerica sped up and turned down the hallway so she was out of sight.

"What is with her?" Sirius asked. There was a spark in his eye that gave away he was having fun with her constant belligerence. 

"Reading between the lines, she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate." James offered.

"Now were have I heard that from before?"

"Why won't the baby eat the food?" Lily asked exasperation as a second helping of mashed carrots landed on her lap.

"Well, Lily, if I was a child I wouldn't eat something that looked like regurgitated mud, with an orange hue." James said as he turned his nose up at the food in disgust.

"Well then, I'm afraid you'll have to feed the baby!" Lily yelled as she threw the spoon at James and stormed out of the great hall.

"Raging hormones," Kiera said to James. "Later bring her up some chocolate ice cream and give her a foot massage. You'll be doing that a lot."

"I hope you don't expect me to do that for you." Remus said.

Kiera hit him in the head. "For someone who's supposed to be so smart you can be awfully dense. I'm not pregnant you prat." Kiera said in a hushed voice so no one would overhear. "But it would be nice if you could think of someone else besides yourself."

"I offered to feed the baby!"

"No, you offered to throw the baby outside the window."

"It's the same thing!"

"Oh yes, feeding and death go hand in hand. It's so simple!"

Remus pushed himself away from the table and stood up. "I have to study."

Sirius leaned over to Kiera as Remus stormed away. "In a while bring him some chocolate and give him a nice foot massage."

An hour after dinner James walked into the Gryffindor Common rooms to find Lily sitting in the corner doing her homework with the baby in the bassinette beside her. As James approached Lily lifted up her head and glared at him. James smiled pathetically and pulled from behind his back a pint of chocolate ice cream and a spoon (courtesy of the house elves from the kitchen). Lily eyed the ice cream before grabbing it from James' hands and taking a few spoonfuls. Once she seemed to have calmed down she spoke up.

"James, I am sorry that I overreacted, but I need you to realize that to us this is more then just a class project. What we are doing now could ultimately affect our baby. This class is for us and you have to take it seriously, it's our child's life."

"I know Lily," James said grabbing her hand. "And I promise that I will concentrate more on helping Harry." Lily smiled and kissed James on the cheek. "I don't have to give you a foot massage, do I?"

"I can't get it to shut up." Jerica complained in the common rooms as she and Sirius tried to get their homework done that night, but weren't able to because the baby wouldn't stop crying.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Sirius asked severely.

"Check to see if it needs its diaper changed."

Sirius rolled up his nose and looked down at Kurt. "No way, you didn't say anything about me having to be on diaper duty. That's the women's job."

Jerica shot him a death glare and said in a tight voice. "A women's' job? Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"The baby's daddy," Sirius responded with a cocky grin. "Or at least that's what I'm told."

Jerica rolled her eyes and picked up Kurt, "fine, I'll do it this time but you have to do it next time. And don't think that it was your cocky smile that persuaded me, I hate your cocky attitude. If you don't get ride of you're 'I think I'm better then everyone' attitude I'm going to…"

"You're going to what? Divorce me?"

Jerica huffed and marched up to her dormitory with Kurt in her arms. "Padfoot, you might want to try and work with her." Remus said after Jerica had left.

"What? I got what I wanted, didn't I?"

"Yes, but your not always going to get what you want. Jerica is as strong willed as you are and she won't take this kind of crap from you all of the time. Just try and make it so both of you are caring for the baby equally."

"Like you would know," Sirius said with an eye roll. "You don't even want to be part of your baby's life, even though it's fake. So don't be telling me how to act." 

"I have to tell you how to act because you never had a family to pull experience from!" Once the words had escaped Remus' mouth he immediately realized the weight of the statement he had just made. "Sirius I-"

"No," Sirius said as he stood up and gathered his things. "I think you've said enough." 

"I'll have the baby Monday-Thursday, and you have it Friday-Sunday." Bellatrix said in a bored tone as she talked with Peter in the middle of a corridor. 

"B-b-but I don't want to take care of the b-b-baby on weekends." Peter stammered.

"Oh," Bellatrix said in a patronizing voice. "What makes you think I care what you want? It's what I want, understand?" Peter just nodded his head as he looked at the ground. He could never fight back, he was too weak. "You know Peter," Bellatrix said in a voice that was calm and didn't sound like her usual harsh and cold tone. "If you had been sorted into Slytherin you could've been more then just one of the Marauders lackeys."

"I'm n-n-not a lackey."

Bellatrix tried to smile in a sweet way but wound up looking like a twisted grin. "Oh, of course not." 

Peter walked into the Gryffindor common room once he and Bellatrix had parted ways. Her words kept ringing in his ears, surely they couldn't be true. He was a Marauder nothing less, he never could really figure out why he was one of them. While they where tall and muscular, he was short and plump. They liked to go outside and play Quidditch while he would rather sit in the stands and cheer them on, or play a quiet game of chess in the corner of the Gryffindor common room with a younger year (as none of the Marauders would play with him). Even though they are so different from each other that's what Peter thought had always kept them together. 

"Remus, I have something important to ask you." Peter said hesitantly as he approached his friend.

"Not right now," Remus said in an agitated voice.

"Remus, it's-"

"Wormtail!" Remus yelled. His head snapped up and his eyes looked vehement. "I said not; right now!"

"But-"

Remus slammed his book shut and abruptly stood up. "Do you ever just shut up?!" 

Peter shrank into his seat as Remus marched up the stairs. Peter couldn't help but wonder if things were always this way and if Bellatrix was right. He tried convincing himself that it was all in his head and he was just over analyzing things now that Bellatrix has put this lie in his head.

Remus was lying on his bed as he tried to read but found he couldn't keep his focus on the book. In a defeated sigh he threw the book onto the ground. He closed his eyes and put his palms on his eyes sockets, rubbing slowly in an attempt to calm down and clear his head. When he thought he was finally calming down there was a knock on the door and Remus grunted. Without permission the person entered the room and didn't make a sound until Remus opened his eyes and saw that it was Kiera.

"What is it that you want?" Remus asked as he examined her. He looked her up and down and noticed that the baby was missing. "God, have you lost the child already? Did you come up here to ask for my help in finding the aforementioned child?"

A look of anger flashed in Kiera's eyes, but she shook her head and appeared calm once more. "Lily's got the baby right now, don't worry." Kiera said slowly as she made her way towards Remus. She stopped by the foot of his bed and picked up the book that he had thrown on the ground. Kiera ran her fingers along the spine of the book to create some time so she could collect her thoughts. "Remus, is it right to assume we're going to spend a lot of time together?"

"Well, not just us, us and the baby."

Kiera rolled her eyes, "yes, the baby too. Anyway, I think we should come to some sort of…compromise."

"And what do I have to sacrifice?"

"You have to sacrifice some time, which is required, and you have to try and act like we can tolerate each other. I don't get why you're so mad at me though, we were friends before this."

"It's not you that I'm angry with; it's just the whole project."

"Well, could you not take your anger out on me? That would make life a lot easier, and it would keep my temper under control. Just because we're pretending to be a couple doesn't mean we have to act like one."

"Fine," Remus said as he snatched the book from Kiera's hands and proceeded to read it, cueing Kiera to leave.

"This…thing- is so bloody infuriating." Kiera shouted as the baby had thrown his mashed up food into her face and hair for the second time during breakfast. 

"It's not a thing; it's a child, sort of." Lily said as her baby ate the food with no objection.

"Easy for you to say," Kiera said as she tried to wipe the food off her forehead with the back of her hand. "Yours is eating the food; mine has decided to throw it around in a festive manor."

"Where's Remus?" 

Kiera sighed, "Who knows. James, do you have any idea?"

"He was still in his bedroom last time I checked."

"Oh yeah," Sirius looked up from his baby who was also rejecting the food and Jerica had become very red in the face. "He told me to tell you he had to finish some homework, and that he'll take care of the baby during lunch."

Kiera slew out a string of swear words that made nearby listeners cringe. She picked up the baby along with the food and stormed out of the Great Hall. 

"I don't get why they're not getting along. Remus and Kiera were friends before this baby drama started." Sirius said after Kiera's departure.

"Yeah, I don't know what's gotten his knickers in a twist." Lily said as she brought out a bottle.

"Kiera is a bit high-strong." James chimed in.

"I don't think she's overreacting," Jerica said as she ate her breakfast. "I think that Remus is doing a crap job and that Kiera has every right to be furious."

"You tell them, babe." Sirius said.

Jerica whipped around and looked at Sirius with a death glare. "Babe? Did you really just call me, Babe?" Sirius opened his mouth but Jerica started yelling again and poked him in the chest as she spoke. "Don't. You. Ever. Call. Me. Babe. Again. I'm not one of your bimbo, sluts, that wears short skirts with no underwear. So don't ever call me babe again!"

There was a great tension filling between everyone and they all tried to avoid eye contact with Jerica who was still fuming. And to make matters worse all their babies started crying.

Kiera burst through the boy's dormitory forgetting the courtesy of knocking first, "Remus!" Remus nearly fell out of bed when Kiera had burst through the door. "I can't believe you. As I marched up here I kept on thinking that you would have a really good excuse as to why you didn't come down to breakfast; like you were dead, deathly ill, lost a ligament…anything, but no. You're just sitting up here reading another stupid book while I have to take care of OUR baby! When I said we should try and work together last night I wasn't just saying it for shits and giggles. I don't want to have a yelling contest every time someone doesn't follow through with the baby."

"You seem to be doing all the yelling-"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that." Kiera took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. "I need you to be at meals every time. Unless you have a legitimate excuse as to why you can't come you better be there."

"Is that…baby food all over you?"

Kiera glared at him and shoved the baby in his arms. "I need to take a shower, you watch the baby."

"What about the whole team effort-" Remus wasn't able to finish his statement because Kiera had walked out of the boys dormitory and slammed the door behind her. Remus looked down at the baby and muttered, "Next time you're with your mum make sure to take the stick out of her arse."


End file.
